Community garden gives older refugees a 'place to call their own'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - On a sunny morning, refugees of all ages from Somalia, Cuba, Liberia and Sudan gathered in front of the Holy Name Parish Life Center in Nashville to plant a garden.

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While digging up the earth to plant vegetables, herbs and flowers, the refugees were also establishing a welcoming place of respite and purpose for their often isolated community. Many of the refugees "don't feel like they have a place to go outside of their home. They don't know where they belong," said Laurie Soileau, resources developer for Catholic Charities' Refugee and Immigration Services in Nashville. Most newly arrived refugees live in apartment complexes with little or no access to a yard or land, and have limited access to transportation. The garden is an outlet that allows the refugees to "have some control over their environment, a place to call their own," Soileau said. Catholic Charities of Tennessee resettles approximately 250 refugees each year. The refugees, who flee their home countries to escape political or religious persecution, come primarily from African and Latin American nations. The garden is especially important for the older refugee population, who are among the most isolated, Soileau said. "A lot of times, the older people are kind of forgotten." Much more funding and resources, such as English classes, are available to the younger refugee population who are seen to have the most potential for education and employment. While the refugee elders may be close to retirement age, they still have the desire to work and be part of the community, Soileau said, but they don't have the language skills. Since she joined Catholic Charities last December, Soileau has engaged the older population in a variety of activities such as yoga, painting and the gardening that "gives them a creative outlet not tied to language," she told the Tennessee Register, the official publication of the Diocese of Nashville. A certified instructor in English as a second language, Soileau also incorporates English lessons into the seniors' weekly meetings. While the newly planted garden is for all refugees, Soileau wants the older refugees to take a strong leadership role with it. Among other duties, they will attend monthly maintenance days and have the final say on harvesting and distributing the produce. Musa Matan, a Somali Bantu elder who was resettled in Nashville through Catholic Charities three years ago, is eager to take an active role with the garden, including daily watering. "He really likes to get his hands dirty and have a purpose," said Kerry Marks, program coordinator with Catholic Charities Refugee and Immigration Services. The garden is also an opportunity for refugee elders such as Edigno Moreno, who was a farmer in his home country of Cuba, to lend their expertise to a project. On a recent planting day, Moreno was busily planting tomatoes and lettuce, as well as rose bushes, telling of how he grew large tomatoes and cabbages at home. "It's nice to have crops like in my home country," he said through a translator. While most crops integral to the refugees' diets are available commercially in local grocery and specialty stores, it is important to them to be able to grow their food themselves.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops